Bristol International Comic Expo 2007

Bristol, 2007

By Alice Doyle
June 1, 2007

Arrived at Bristol on Friday afternoon in the middle of a downpour that would last most of the weekend. The roads around the convention hall were slowly turning into lakes and the thought of crossing the scant 300 yards between the hotel, where the panels are held, and the con, where the comics, sketches, and signings can be found, looked somewhat daunting.

Me, I walked all the way to the hotel constructing reasons why I didn't really need to buy any comics and how I could very well write a report on the con without actually taking a look at the comic hall. After all, comics. Seen one, seen them all. What can possibly have changed in a year?

Festivities at Bristol kick off on the Friday evening at the hotel bar. Not much is done except gather round the bar, see who is or isn't there, catch up with friends and work out your own personal con timetable; it's that lovely time of quiet(ish) fun before the party. Sadly, it's also the time to get reacquainted with the bar staff at the Ramada Inn and remember why you have a blank spot in your memory of last year's con. Traumatic amnesia.

This is the fourth year I went to Bristol and panels have always been held in the same hotel. The staff is apparently long term because year after year you see some of the same faces behind the bar. This means that (at least some of) the bar staff have a minimum of three years forewarning of what the clientele will be like on that particular weekend. Do they get in professional help? Do they order extra beer? Do they ****** (insert favourite swear word here).

I have a friend, Mark, who has a fantastically worked out escape plan if zombies ever take over his part of the world. And now I think I've discovered where he works out what a zombie would do in any certain case. He takes a step back and wonders what those waiters would do.

Mam Tor gave us a great intro to the Bristol Comic Expo with a showing of the follow-up film to Zombie Elvis and the Vikings. And yes, the film is as weird as the title suggests. I can't really tell you what the film is about without giving away the end to the first part, but if you want to find out, log on to the website and take a look. I can tell you that, apart from one over longish section that could do with some trimming, the follow-up is great. And the five extra minutes were more than compensated by a wonderful mockumentary about the fantabulous cosmopolitan derby.

Saturday I discovered that the display of ability at the bar doesn't translate to the rest of the hotel and had a great time trying out all the extras it has to offer. The gym is small but well appointed: it has a small swimming pool as well as all the usual machines and weights, and it has a steam room, which I hardly ever find anywhere but I love. So that was a bonus for the weekend.

The rain had eased off a little so I braved the outdoors for the full two minutes it takes to get to the exhibition hall where the comic stands are set to take a look at the atmosphere there. This year the organizers had gone a little bit farther than usual with the festivities and had a team of about six people dressed in various Star Wars costumes keeping the large queue of people waiting to enter the hall in line.

You know what they say, we Brits love nothing more than a good queue, and it's true, but it's more true if you have Storm Troopers, Boba Fett and Imperial guards to make sure you don't get out of line. To add to the fun there were also many more members of the public dressed up in costume than any other year. The quality varied, but some were very well put together, especially the manga and anime characters. But mention of honour has to go to the fantastic Silver Surfer who gave the word "gimp mask" a completely new meaning and finally cleared up for me the mystery of where the S.S. carries all his belongings when travelling.

The hall was extremely busy; the manga presence felt like double what it was last year and a lot of the publishers had bigger stalls than previously. Add to that stores, signings, and extra public — at some points it was difficult to move around the crowd — but it was pretty cool to see the place busy and have plenty of comics and stalls to look around for. I had fully intended to buy nothing this year and still managed to make it out of there with a bag full of comics. Mostly from Markosia but also Worry Doll, an impressive piece of work I had to buy for the art but I've actually been to scared to read. I'm waiting for my mum to be in the house before I do, which is not easy as she lives in another country.

The panels were the best feature of the con as usual, with everything from manga to TV writing, the DC panel, the Vertigo panel, conversations with Kurt Busiek, Brian K. Vaughn, the cast and crew of the new Blakes 7 audio series among many, and, of course, Hypotheticals. Normally I spend my Saturdays running from room to room trying to catch up with all the news, but this year I have to admit I landed myself at the bar and barely made it to two panels, then spent most of my time people watching and drinking, which you can do at Bristol and not miss much thanks to location of the bar. Just make sure you order enough booze in your first visit to not have to go back to them.

I did make it to the DC panel, which was entertainingly directed by Bob Wayne, as usual. You have to hand it to the man, I have no idea how many times he has to repeat the list of DC's upcoming comics to a roomful of strangers, but he does do it very well and he knows how to keep a room entertained. I missed the Mam Tor panel, though in my defence most of the con did, and only two people made it to the panel, so the Mam Tor crowd took them to the bar and bought them beer while they chatted to them. That's the type of panel I'd like to be at. The Markosia panel was a little better populated (by about six people) but again they had Tony Lee running it, and he's another guy who can play a crowd, so he made the whole room cheer and clap until we made enough noise to draw in some curious passers-by and make up the numbers. It was a good laugh, I have to admit. My phone rang in the middle of it and I scarpered before Tony could say anything.

For me one of the better moments of Bristol Comic Expo is the Hypotheticals panel. Normally it's the great ending to Saturday's panels and starts the drinking session for the evening. This year, however, Dave Gibbons was busy at the wedding of our favourite bearded creator and it was moved to the Sunday afternoon. We had managed to book a return late enough to be able to be there on the Sunday, but sadly it was delayed and I missed it. Granted, even if I had made it to the panel I wouldn't be able to tell you what went on in there because what happens in the room, stays in the room, but it's usually an hour's worth of laughter and jokes so it was a great pity to miss it.

So, Saturday night's fun with Hypotheticals was not happening and I didn't have a ticket for the dinner at the Eagle Awards; where to find fun and laughter? Well, Eurovision of course. It was the evening of all things over the top and tacky that Europe has to offer and there was a crowd at the bar laughing their guts out with it so I joined in the fun. I saw acts that I don't think anyone should have to see and I was enlightened in the ways of Euro gaydom.

I didn't have the energy to last out until after Eurovision and I knew that the Eagle Awards are not exactly the most entertaining event of the year so when I started feeling that slight belly ache you get with too much laughter I escaped off to my bed and slept. Tragically, this meant I missed what I hope becomes a staple of the event, Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood delivering the Golden Champagne Glass Awards. I'd been told about them but forgot, and I shall never forgive myself. Thanks to the magic of the internet though, you can find out who won the "You Look Like A Wookiee," "Scariest Fan," "Hardest Drinkers," or the "Favourite Comic Written By A Friend" Awards of 2007, just follow the link below.

And that is it for another year. I have chatted to many interesting and funny people, bought shiny new comics, built a respectable hangover and made my credit card tremble. Mission accomplished.

'Till next year.

Two Drunk Guys In A Bar — To find out all about the Golden Champagne Glass Awards 2007
Bristol Comic Expo — Official con website.